Recording/reproducing device and optical disk library device

ABSTRACT

In a recording/reproducing device for recording and reproducing an optical disk, when performing verify processing of inspecting a quality of recorded data and compare processing of inspecting whether the recorded data can be read without errors, a time is taken because the same area needs to be reproduced two times. The verify processing and the compare processing are performed at one time reproduction. To perform the verify processing and the compare processing simultaneously, a recording quality storage part is provided in the recording/reproducing device, and reproduced data is transmitted to a host controller while storing quality information at the time of reproduction by an instruction of the host controller. The host controller performs the compare processing by comparing transmitted data and data at the time of recording and inspects the recording quality by acquiring the quality information of a reproduced area from the recording/reproducing device at intervals set in advance.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a recording/reproducing device thatuses an optical disk or an optical disk library device that uses therecording/reproducing device, and especially relates to shortening of aprocessing time at the time of recording on the optical disk.

In the recording/reproducing device which records and reproduces data onthe optical disk, there is a case where verify processing and compareprocessing are performed in order to secure reliability of recordeddata. The verify processing is processing of inspecting a quality of therecorded data, and the compare processing is processing of inspectingwhether the data recorded on the optical disk can be read withouterrors. The verify processing and the compare processing are describedin Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-267367and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-154749.

SUMMARY

Problems of verify processing and compare processing in the conventionaloptical disk will be explained using drawings. FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 arediagrams that explain an operation of an optical disk drive having afunction of performing the verify processing on recorded data. Uponreception of a command that directs recording from a host controller 2,an optical disk drive 1 records the data transmitted from the hostcontroller 2 on an optical disk. At this time, the optical disk drive 1checks that the data is correctly recorded by performing writeprocessing 22 in a fixed capacity unit and subsequently performing theverify processing 23 tracing back to the recorded area, not performingprocessing of writing data on the optical disk (the write processing).Recording such that the data quality is secured can be performed byperforming these write processing 22 and verify processing 23repeatedly. Generally, since in the optical disk drive, the same opticalpickup is used to perform the recording and reproduction, it cannotperform the write processing 22 and the verify processing 23simultaneously, but repeats the write processing 22 and the verifyprocessing 23 alternately, and therefore a comparable time as in thewrite processing of writing data on the optical disk becomes necessaryin the verify processing 23.

Moreover, operations in the case where the verify processing and thecompare processing are performed at the time of recording using theoptical disk drive 1 of FIG. 13 will be explained by FIG. 15 and FIG.16. The compare processing 24 is processing that inspects whether thesame data is being able to be reproduced by actually reproducing aportion in which the recording was performed and comparing reproduceddata and the data transferred for the recording by the host controller2. Since it is necessary to reproduce the recorded area in order toperform the compare processing 24, the compare processing 24 will beperformed after the write processing 22 and the verify processing 23 arecompleted. Since it is necessary to reproduce all the recorded areas, atime comparable as the time required in the write processing is neededfor the compare processing. Therefore, when the verify processing andthe compare processing are performed at the time of recording, aboutthree times the time required for the write processing becomesnecessary. For this reason, it had become a problem to shorten a time inrecording processing accompanied by the verify processing and thecompare processing in the recording/reproducing device that uses theoptical disk.

The above-mentioned problems are addressed by an invention described in“What is claimed is”.

For example, a recording quality storage part is provided in therecording/reproducing device, and the recording/reproducing devicetransmits the reproduced data to the host controller while storingquality information at the time of reproduction in the recording qualitystorage part by an instruction of the host controller. The hostcontroller performs the compare processing by comparing the transmitteddata and the data at the time of recording, moreover acquires thequality information of a reproduced area from the recording/reproducingdevice at intervals set in advance, and inspects the recording quality.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a time of the recordingprocessing accompanied by the verify processing and the compareprocessing can be shortened in the recording/reproducing device thatuses the optical disk,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment of the presentinvention, and is a block diagram of an optical disk drive;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the presentinvention, is a diagram for explaining write processing on the opticaldisk, compare processing, and verify processing, and is a diagram forexplaining that the compare processing and the verify processing areperformed by a host controller;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and is a diagram for explaining a processing flow of thewrite processing on the optical disk, the compare processing, and theverify processing;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the presentinvention, is a diagram for explaining the write processing on theoptical disk, the compare processing, and the verify processing, and isa diagram for explaining a timing at which the write processing, thecompare processing, and the verify processing are performed and theirprocessing times;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment of the presentinvention, and is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of thewrite processing on the optical disk, the compare processing, and theverify processing;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment of the presentinvention, and is a block diagram of an optical disk drive;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the second embodiment of the presentinvention, is a diagram for explaining the write processing on theoptical disk, the compare processing, and the verify processing, and isa diagram for explaining that the compare processing is performed by thehost controller and the verify processing is performed by the opticaldisk drive;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment of the presentinvention, is a diagram for explaining the write processing, the compareprocessing, and the verify processing in an optical disk library thathouses and uses multiple optical disks, and is a diagram for explainingthat the compare processing and the verify processing are performed bythe host controller;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention, is a diagram for explaining the write processing, the compareprocessing, and the verify processing in the optical disk library thathouses and uses the multiple optical disks, and is a diagram forexplaining that the compare processing is performed by the hostcontroller and the verify processing is performed by a librarycontroller;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the fourth embodiment of the presentinvention, and is a diagram for explaining a processing flow of the hostcontroller;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the fourth embodiment of the presentinvention, and is a diagram for explaining a processing flow of thelibrary controller;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention, is a diagram for explaining the write processing, the compareprocessing, and the verify processing in the optical disk library thathouses and uses multiple optical disks, and is a diagram for explainingthat the compare processing is performed by the host controller and theverify processing is performed by the optical disk drive;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the write processing and the verifyprocessing on the optical disk in the conventional optical disk drive;

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the write processing and the verifyprocessing on the optical disk in the conventional optical disk drive,and is a diagram for explaining timings at which the write processingand the verify processing are performed and their processing times;

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the write processing, the compareprocessing, and the verify processing on the optical disk in theconventional optical disk drive; and

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the write processing, the compareprocessing, and the verify processing on the optical disk in theconventional optical disk drive, and is a diagram for explaining timingsat which the write processing, the verify processing, and the compareprocessing are performed and their processing times.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be describedbased on drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical disk drive that shows a firstembodiment of the present invention. An optical disk 5 is in a state ofrotation by a spindle motor 7 and a driver circuit 8. Light emitted froma laser diode 10 mounted on an optical pickup unit 12 is focused onto adata recording surface on the optical disk 5 by an objective lens 9.Then, the light focused onto the optical disk 5 is reflected by the datarecording surface, and the reflected light passes through the objectivelens 9 again, subsequently enters a light receiving element 11, and isconverted into an electric signal. The electric signal outputted fromthe light receiving element 11 is inputted into a digital processingcircuit 13. The digital processing circuit 13 processes the inputtedsignal, performs communication with an external connection devicethrough an interface 17, performs feedback to the driver circuit 8, andcontrols the spindle motor 7, the optical pickup unit 12, etc. Moreover,the digital processing circuit 13 has a coding circuit 14 for codingdata to be recorded on the optical disk, a decoding circuit 15 fordecoding data reproduced from the optical disk, and a recording qualitystorage part 16 for storing quality information of data acquired at thetime of decoding.

Recording processing accompanied by verify processing and compareprocessing in the optical disk drive of the first embodiment will beexplained using FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4. FIG. 2 is a diagram forexplaining a data flow in each processing between a host controller 2and an optical disk drive 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining aprocessing flow. Moreover, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining anexecution timing and a processing time of each processing.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, after the data to be recordedwas transmitted to the optical disk drive 1 from the host controller 2,reproduced data and the quality information are transmitted to the hostcontroller 2 from the optical disk drive 1 and the verify processing andthe compare processing are performed.

The processing at the time of recording is that, as shown in FIG. 3,after the host controller 2 issues a recording instruction to theoptical disk drive 1 (101), it transmits the data to be recorded on theoptical disk 5 to the optical disk drive 1. The optical disk drive 1performs write processing of the transmitted data on the optical disk(102). After transmission of the data to be recorded is completed andthe write processing in the optical disk drive is completed, the hostcontroller 2 transmits a first instruction for performing the compareprocessing and the verify processing to the optical disk drive 1 (103).Incidentally, the first instruction is an original command that thedrive maker set, and the optical disk drive that does not include thisfunction performs no operation by this command. Upon reception of thefirst instruction, the optical disk drive 1 reproduces the recorded area(104), and transmits the reproduced data to the host controller 2.Moreover, the optical disk drive 1 stores the data quality informationacquired in the decoding at the time of reproduction processing in arecording quality storage part 16. The host controller 2 performsinspection as to whether there is no error in the reproduced data bycomparing the data transmitted from the optical disk drive 1 and thedata transmitted in order to perform the recording (the compareprocessing).

Moreover, at a time point when data of a predetermined capacity isreproduced, the host controller 2 transmits a second instruction to theoptical disk drive 1 so that the quality information of a reproducedarea may be transferred (105). The optical disk drive 1 that receivedthe second instruction transmits the quality information stored in therecording quality storage part 16 to the host controller 2, and the hostcontroller 2 receives this (106). Incidentally, the second instructionis also an original command that the drive maker set, and the opticaldisk drive that does not include this function performs no operation.Then, the host controller 2 inspects the transmitted quality informationby comparing it with a previously decided reference value (the verifyprocessing). The reproduction processing for the compare processing andthe verify processing is performed on all the areas in which the writeprocessing has been performed (107), and the recording processing iscompleted.

In this embodiment, in the recorded area, the compare processing and theverify processing can be performed by one reproduction. Moreover, sincea time required for transferring of the quality information is veryshort as compared with the reproduction time of the optical disk asshown in FIG. 4, it has little effect on processing time. Sinceconventionally the verify processing and the compare processing wereperformed separately, the same recorded area was reproduced two times;but in this embodiment, since reproduction of the same recorded areaneeds to be performed only once, the time required for the compareprocessing and the verify processing can be reduced to about ½.

Incidentally, in this embodiment, the compare processing is performed bythe host controller 2. This is done in order to check that the databeing recorded and reproduced on the optical disk can be transferred tothe host controller 2 correctly in consideration of data errors otherthan those caused by the recording and reproduction on the optical disksuch as poor communication between the host controller 2 and the opticaldisk drive 1.

Symbol errors are used as the quality information of the optical diskhandled in this embodiment. In the optical disk, errors of thereproduced data can be corrected by adding an error correcting code toeach recording unit. The number of errors (the number of symbol errors)that are corrected at this time shall be considered as the qualityinformation whereby the data quality recorded on the optical disk isjudged.

When the optical disk has a crack and stain and its recording qualityhas deteriorated locally, the number of symbol errors also increaseslocally. In order to detect such degradation, a previously decided areais reproduced and the number of symbol errors that becomes a maximumvalue in the area is determined, which enables the detection. Moreover,when there is a problem in recording performance of the optical diskdrive, the number of symbol errors increases continuously. Suchdegradation of the recording quality becomes detectable by reproducing apreviously decided area and determining an average of the number ofsymbol errors.

Incidentally, when areas in which the average of the number of symbolerrors is acquired is few, if there is a portion in that range where thenumber of symbol errors is large, the average of the number of symbolerrors will become large and it will become impossible to accuratelydetermine the recording performance of the optical disk device. For thisreason, it is necessary to decide a proper value as a reproductioncapacity for acquiring the quality information. For example, in theoptical disk drive of one recording unit of 64 kB, if it is assumed tohave a reproduction capacity of transmitting the quality information byevery 64 MB, it will become possible to suppress an influence that localdegradation in one recording unit exerts on the average of the numbersof symbol errors to about 0.1%.

The recording quality storage part in this embodiment keeps storing themaximum value and the average of the number of symbol errors in thereproduced area. Incidentally, the information of the recording qualitystorage part is initialized by a reset signal from the host controller,or by an opportunity of transferring the quality information to the hostcontroller, or by an opportunity of receiving an execution instructionof the verify processing and the compare processing, and the maximumvalue and the average of the number of symbol errors only in thereproduced area are stored in the recording quality storage part.

Incidentally, when performing the write processing, the compareprocessing, and the verify processing, the compare processing and theverify processing may be performed after all the data for recording issubjected to the write processing as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, asshown in FIG. 5, it may be possible to perform the write processing fora predetermined capacity, to perform the compare processing and theverify processing of the area, and to perform repeatedly these writeprocessing, compare processing, and verify processing.

FIG. 5 shows a processing flow in which the recording processing isperformed by performing the write processing, the compare processing,and the verify processing with a predetermined capacity and repeatingthese. In the case of the former, although seek processing does notoccur in the middle of the compare processing and the verify processingand a recording time does not increase, a cache capacity for the compareprocessing in the host controller becomes necessary to be as large as acapacity of one optical disk. Moreover, in the case of the latter, sincea portion of the recording data that has gone through the compareprocessing in the host controller can be released from the cache,reduction of the cache capacity becomes possible, but the seekprocessing occurs because the write processing, the compare processing,and the verify processing are repeated, and the recording timeincreases. In the case where the recording time is given a high priorityto the optical disk drive, what is necessary is to select the former; inthe case where reduction of the cache capacity of the host controller isgiven a high priority, what is necessary is to select the latter.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explainedusing FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the optical diskdrive, and FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a data flow in eachprocessing of the host controller 2 and the optical disk drive 1. Theoptical disk drive of the second embodiment has a recording qualitydetermination part 25 in the digital processing circuit 13 in additionto the first optical disk drive. The recording quality determinationpart 25 determines the quality information stored in the recordingquality storage part 16 with a determination value set in advance.

Next, the verify processing and the compare processing in the secondembodiment will be explained. After the recording instruction is issuedto the optical disk drive 1 from the host controller 2, the data to berecorded on the optical disk 5 is transmitted to the optical disk drive1. The optical disk drive 1 performs the write processing of thetransmitted data on the optical disk. After the transmission of the datato be recorded was completed and the write processing in the opticaldisk drive was completed, the host controller 2 transmits the firstinstruction for performing the compare processing and the verifyprocessing to the optical disk drive 1. Incidentally, the firstinstruction is an original command that a drive maker set, and theoptical disk drive that does not include this function performs nooperation by this command. Upon reception of the first instruction, theoptical disk drive 1 reproduces the recorded area, and transmits thereproduced data to the host controller 2. Moreover, the optical diskdrive 1 stores the data quality information acquired in the decoding atthe time of reproduction processing in the recording quality storagepart 16. The host controller 2 inspects whether the reproduced data iserror free by comparing the data transmitted from the optical disk drive1 and the data transmitted in order to perform the recording (thecompare processing). Moreover, the optical disk drive 1 determines thequality information stored in the recording quality storage part 16 in acapacity unit set in advance with the recording quality determinationpart 25, as shown in FIG. 7 (the verify processing). When the recordingquality determination part 25 detected that there is a problem inquality, it transmits a quality information determination result to thehost controller 2.

The compare processing needs to be performed by the host controller 2 inconsideration of a possibility of errors in a communication channel.However, even when the verify processing that is determinationprocessing of the data quality is performed in the optical disk drive 1,it causes no problem in particular. Moreover, since the determinationvalue of the data quality is a parameter depending on the optical diskdrive 1, that determination of the quality is performed by the opticaldisk drive 1 eliminates necessity for the host controller 2 to have thedetermination value that depends on a connection device.

Third Embodiment

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be explainedusing FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows an optical disk library 6 that mounts theoptical disk drive 1 of the first embodiment. The optical disk library 6carries multiple optical disks 5, conveys an arbitrary optical disk tothe optical disk drive 1 by a disk transport mechanism 4 according to aninstruction from the host controller 2, and performs the recording orreproduction processing. Moreover, the disk transport mechanism 4 alsoconveys an optical disk in which the recording or reproduction iscompleted from the optical disk drive 1 to an optical disk loadingposition.

Moreover, the optical disk library 6 mounts a library controller 3, andthe library controller 3 performs transmission and reception of datawith the host controller 2, control of the disk transport mechanism 4,issuance of a command to the optical disk drive 1, etc. Moreover, datatransfer between the host controller 2 and the optical disk drive 1 isalso performed via the library controller 3. In the optical disk library6 of this embodiment, when performing the verify processing and thecompare processing, the first instruction is transmitted to the opticaldisk drive 1 like the first embodiment, and the optical disk drive 1performs transmission of the reproduced data to the host controller 2and transmission of the quality information by the second instructionvia the library controller 3.

Fourth Embodiment

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be explainedusing FIG. 9, FIG. 10, and FIG. 11. FIG. 9 shows the optical disklibrary 6 that mounts the optical disk drive 1 of the first embodiment.The optical disk library 6 carries multiple optical disks 5, conveys anarbitrary optical disk to the optical disk drive 1 by the disk transportmechanism 4 by an instruction from the host controller 2, and performsthe recording or reproduction processing. Moreover, the disk transportmechanism 4 also conveys an optical disk in which the recording orreproduction is completed from the optical disk drive 1 to the opticaldisk loading position. Moreover, the optical disk library 6 mounts thelibrary controller 3, and the library controller 3 performs transmissionand reception of data with the host controller 2, control of the disktransport mechanism 4, issuance of a command to the optical disk drive1, etc. Moreover, data transfer between the host controller 2 and theoptical disk drive 1 is also performed via the library controller 3.Moreover, the library controller 3 mounts a quality informationdetermination part for determining the data quality information recordedby the optical disk drive 1.

The verify processing and the compare processing in this embodiment willbe explained by FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. FIG. 10 shows a processing flow ofthe host controller 2. After the host controller 2 performed therecording instruction to the optical disk drive 1 (301), it transmitsthe data to be recorded on the optical disk 5 to the optical disk drive1 via the library controller 3. The optical disk drive 1 performs thewrite processing of the transmitted data on the optical disk (302).After the transmission of the recording data is completed and the writeprocessing in the optical disk drive is completed, the host controller 2transmits the first instruction for performing the compare processingand the verify processing to the optical disk drive 1 via the librarycontroller 3 (303). Incidentally, the first instruction is an originalcommand that the drive maker set, and the optical disk drive that doesnot include this function performs no operation by this command. Uponreception of the first instruction, the optical disk drive 1 reproducesthe recorded area (304), and transmits the reproduced data to the hostcontroller 2 via the library controller 3. Moreover, the optical diskdrive 1 stores the data quality information acquired in the decoding atthe time of reproduction processing in the recording quality storagepart 16. The host controller 2 compares the data transmitted from theoptical disk drive 1 and the data transmitted in order to performrecording, and performs inspection as to whether there is no error inthe reproduced data (the compare processing). The reproductionprocessing for the compare processing is performed on all the areas inwhich the write processing was performed (305), and the recordingprocessing is completed.

Next, a processing flow of the library controller 3 will be explained byFIG. 11. Upon reception of the first instruction of the host controller2 (401), the library controller 3 transmits the first instruction to theoptical disk drive 1, and also monitors reproduction capacity in whichthe optical disk drive 1 transmits the regenerated data to the hostcontroller 2. At a time point when the reproduction capacity exceeds thepreviously decided threshold (402), the second instruction is issued tothe optical disk drive 1 so that the quality information of thereproduced area may be transmitted (403). Incidentally, the secondinstruction is also an original instruction that the drive maker set,and the optical disk drive that does not include this function performsno operation. The optical disk drive 1 that received the secondinstruction transmits the quality information to the library controller3, and the library controller 3 receives this (404). Then, the librarycontroller 3 inspects the received quality information by comparing itwith the previously decided reference value (the verify processing)(405). When the recording quality determination part detects that thereis a problem in quality, the recording quality determination parttransmits the quality information determination result to the hostcontroller 2 (406).

Incidentally, when it is detected that there is a problem in the qualityin the verify processing, the library controller 3 may transmit thefirst instruction to the reproduced area to make it be reproduced andthe verify processing again may be performed again. This is an actionagainst a fact that a large number of symbol errors are detected byaccidental factors, such as adhesion of foreign matters on the opticaldisk. Since an increase in the number of symbol errors by the accidentalfactor is canceled by repeated reproduction, such retry processingbecomes effective.

Fifth Embodiment

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be explainedusing FIG. 12. FIG. 12 shows an optical disk library 6 that mounts theoptical disk drive 1 of the second embodiment. The optical disk library6 carries multiple optical disks 5, conveys an arbitrary optical disk tothe optical disk drive 1 with the disk transport mechanism 4 by aninstruction from the host controller 2, and performs the recording orreproduction processing. Moreover, the disk transport mechanism 4 alsoconveys the optical disk in which the recording or reproduction iscompleted from the optical disk drive 1 to the optical disk loadingposition.

Moreover, the optical disk library 6 mounts the library controller 3,and the library controller 3 performs transmission and reception of datawith the host controller 2, control of the disk transport mechanism 4,issuance of a command to the optical disk drive 1, etc. Moreover, datatransfer between the host controller 2 and the optical disk drive 1 isperformed via the library controller 3. When performing the verifyprocessing and the compare processing in the optical disk library 6 ofthis embodiment, the first instruction is transmitted to the opticaldisk drive 1 like the second embodiment, and the optical disk drive 1transfers the reproduced data to the host controller 2 via the librarycontroller 3.

Incidentally, the first instruction is an original command that thedrive maker set, and the optical disk drive that does not include thisfunction performs no operation by this command. Moreover, the opticaldisk drive 1 performs determination of the quality information, and whenthere is a problem in the data quality, transmits the determinationresult to the host controller 2 via the library controller 3. By suchprocessing, even when performing the verify processing and the compareprocessing, it can be processed at one time reproduction.

Incidentally, also in embodiments following the second embodiment, themaximum value and the average of the number of symbol errors can be usedas the quality information. Moreover, a determination index of the dataquality should not be limited to the number of symbol errors, and it maybe any index that indicates the data quality of the optical disk such asfluctuation (jitter) of the signal other than the number of symbolerrors.

What is claimed is:
 1. An optical disk library device for carrying aplurality of optical disks and recording and reproducing information onthe optical disks, the device comprising: a recording/reproducing devicethat records and reproduces information on the optical disk; and alibrary controller that transmits and receives information to/from thehost controller connected to the optical disk library device, whereinthe recording/reproducing device reproduces an area recorded on theoptical disk, includes a recording quality storage part for storingquality information showing a recording state of the area, and when datato be recorded on the optical disk via the library controller istransmitted to the recording/reproducing device from the hostcontroller, the recording/reproducing device records the transmitteddata on the optical disk, and wherein the recording/reproducing devicetransmits reproduced data to the host controller via the librarycontroller while storing the quality information at the time ofreproduction in the recording quality storage part by a firstinstruction from the host controller, and transmits the qualityinformation stored in the recording quality storage part to the hostcontroller via the library controller by a second instruction from thehost controller.
 2. An optical disk library device for carrying aplurality of optical disks and recording and reproducing information onthe optical disks, the device comprising: a recording/reproducing devicethat records and reproduces information on the optical disk; and alibrary controller that transmits and receives information to/from thehost controller connected to the optical disk library device, whereinthe recording/reproducing device reproduces an area recorded on theoptical disk, and includes a recording quality storage part for storingquality information showing a recording state of the area, and when datato be recorded on the optical disk is transmitted to therecording/reproducing device from the host controller via the librarycontroller, the recording/reproducing device records the transmitteddata on the optical disk, wherein the recording/reproducing devicetransmits reproduced data to the host controller via the librarycontroller while storing the quality information at the time ofreproduction in the recording quality storage part by a firstinstruction from the host controller, wherein the optical disk librarydevice comprises a recording quality determination part for determiningthe quality information, and wherein the recording quality determinationpart determines the quality information transmitted from therecording/reproducing device, and when it is judged that the recordingquality has not reached a previously decided criterion, transmits aquality information determination result to the host controller.
 3. Theoptical disk library device according to claim 2, wherein a maximumvalue of the numbers of symbol errors acquired by respective recordingunits in the reproduced area is considered as the quality informationthat is stored in the recording quality storage part.
 4. The opticaldisk library device according to claim 2, wherein an average of thenumbers of symbol errors acquired by respective recording units in thereproduced area is considered as the quality information that is storedin the recording quality storage part.
 5. The optical disk librarydevice according to claim 2, wherein the recording quality determinationpart determines the quality information by a storage capacity unit setin advance.
 6. A recording/reproducing device for recording andreproducing information on an optical disk, the recording/reproducingdevice reproducing an area recorded on the optical disk, comprising: arecording quality storage part that stores quality information showing arecording state of the area, wherein when data to be recorded on theoptical disk is transmitted to the recording/reproducing device from thehost controller connected to the recording/reproducing device, therecording/reproducing device records the transmitted data on the opticaldisk, and wherein the recording/reproducing device transmits reproduceddata to the host controller while storing the quality information at thetime of reproduction in the recording quality storage part by a firstinstruction from the host controller, and transmits the qualityinformation stored in the recording quality storage part to the hostcontroller by a second instruction from the host controller.
 7. Arecording/reproducing device for recording and reproducing informationon an optical disk, the recording/reproducing device reproducing an arearecorded on the optical disk, comprising: a recording quality storagepart that stores quality information showing a recording state of thearea; and a recording quality determination part that determines thequality information, wherein when data to be recorded on the opticaldisk is transmitted to the recording/reproducing device from the hostcontroller connected to the recording/reproducing device, therecording/reproducing device records the transmitted data on the opticaldisk, wherein the recording/reproducing device transmits reproduced datato the host controller while storing the quality information at the timeof reproduction in the recording quality storage part by a firstinstruction from the host controller, and wherein the recording qualitydetermination part determines the quality information stored in therecording quality storage part, and when it is judged that the recordingquality has not reached a previously decided criterion, transmits aquality information determination result to the host controller.
 8. Therecording/reproducing device according to claim 6, wherein a maximumvalue of the numbers of symbol errors acquired by respective recordingunits in the reproduced area is considered as the quality informationthat is stored in the recording quality storage part.
 9. Therecording/reproducing device according to claim 6, wherein an average ofthe numbers of symbol errors acquired by respective recording units inthe reproduced area is considered as the quality information that isstored in the recording quality storage part.
 10. Therecording/reproducing device according to claim 7, wherein the recordingquality determination part determines the quality information by astorage capacity unit set in advance.
 11. The optical disk librarydevice according to claim 2, wherein the recording quality determinationpart is a part of the components of the library controller; and whereinthe recording/reproducing device transmits the quality informationstored in the recording quality storage part to the library controllerby a second instruction from the library controller.
 12. The opticaldisk library device according to claim 2, wherein the recording qualitydetermination part is a part of the components of therecording/reproducing device; and wherein the recording qualitydetermination part transmits the recording quality informationdetermination result to the host controller via the library controller.13. A data archive system comprising: an optical disk library device forcarrying a plurality of optical disks and recording and reproducinginformation on the optical disks, and a host controller connected to theoptical disk library device; wherein the optical disk library devicefurther comprises: a recording/reproducing device that records andreproduces information on the optical disk, and a library controllerthat transmits and receives information to/from the host controller;wherein the recording/reproducing device reproduces an area recorded onthe optical disk, and includes a recording quality storage part forstoring quality information showing a recording state of the area, andwhen data to be recorded on the optical disk is transmitted to therecording/reproducing device from the host controller via the librarycontroller, the recording/reproducing device records the transmitteddata on the optical disk; wherein the recording/reproducing devicetransmits reproduced data to the host controller via the librarycontroller while storing the quality information at the time ofreproduction in the recording quality storage part by a firstinstruction from the host controller; wherein the data archive systemcomprises a recording quality determination part for determining thequality information; and wherein the recording quality determinationpart determines the quality information transmitted from therecording/reproducing device, and when it is judged that the recordingquality has not reached a previously decided criterion, transmits aquality information determination result to the host controller.
 14. Thedata archive system according to claim 13, wherein the recording qualitydetermination part is a part of the components of the host controller;and wherein the recording/reproducing device transmits the qualityinformation stored in the recording quality storage part to the hostcontroller via the library controller by a second instruction from thehost controller.
 15. The data archive system according to claim 13,wherein the recording quality determination part is a part of thecomponents of the library controller; wherein the recording/reproducingdevice transmits the quality information stored in the recording qualitystorage part to the library controller by a second instruction from thelibrary controller; and wherein the recording quality determination partdetermines the quality information transmitted from therecording/reproducing device, and when it is judged that the recordingquality has not reached a previously decided criterion, transmits aquality information determination result to the host controller.
 16. Thedata archive system according to claim 13, wherein the recording qualitydetermination part is a part of the components of therecording/producing device; and wherein the recording qualitydetermination part determines the quality information, and when it isjudged that the recording quality has not reached a previously decidedcriterion, transmits a quality information determination result to thehost controller via the library controller.
 17. The data archive systemaccording to claim 13, wherein a maximum value of the numbers of symbolerrors acquired by respective recording units in the reproduced area isconsidered as the quality information that is stored in the recordingquality storage part.
 18. The data archive system according to claim 13,wherein an average of the numbers of symbol errors acquired byrespective recording units in the reproduced area is considered as thequality information that is stored in the recording quality storagepart.
 19. The data archive system according to claim 13, wherein therecording quality determination part determines the quality informationby a storage capacity unit set in advance.